rains

 

 

The rains have created havoc in the city for the past days and yet nothing unpredictable as it is monsoon time and a good monsoon is what everyone hopes for. Vladimir Nabokov said: “Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” And fall it does, transforming the world as we know it in a jiffy.

The picture above is our Okhla classroom. Sure the roof was temporarily patched and is holding, but water is seeping through the cracks in the wall and even from outside as here too the word ‘drainage’ is not part of any lexicon.

On rainy days children and staff spend most of the time clearing the water away as best they can. No one asks for a day off. What is needed is a a dry spot to lay out the mats and begin class.

This is but a tiny example of how just one heavy spell of rain can alter one’s day.

The reason is poor construction and absence of planning. Even the best of us forget to plan for the proverbial ‘rainy day’.

Last week’s rain saw the city come to a halt as roads got inundated and one could only wait for the water to recede.

But life goes on and people brave all odds to ensure that it does. Our kids live in homes that bear the brunt of the rain’s fury. Their homes being low lying means they get flooded. School uniforms do not dry and thus they miss school, not to speak of the soaked bedding that means sleeping on the hard floor. But it is all part of the game of life.

Do we ever give a thought of how many challenges are met by those we often take for granted to ensure that our lives do not get affected by the rains?

Do give a thought to those who make our life better, whether the lady who comes to help in our homes or the man who cleans our clogged drain or even the electrician who repairs the lights blown because of the rains.

As for Project Why teachers, they too brave all odds to come and teach the children.

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